Park Ridge considers cutting police, firefighters

Police, firefighters and the public turned out Monday night to hear about proposed cuts to their ranks in suburban Park Ridge.

"Public safety cuts are certainly dangerous to them. We have less people and less equipment responding to emergencies," said Matt Jarka, president, firefighters union.

The proposed budget calls for laying off four police officers and three firefighters. Several aldermen said they had been flooded with calls and emails from residents. One proposed trying to get more concessions from the police and firefighters unions instead of cutting jobs.